BMW moves up 6 places to rank 21st out of 35 brands in JD Power's 2007 initial quality study. Last year the study added "design problems" (such as difficult to use HVAC controls) to mechanical build quality problems and BMW suffered because of the design problems (ranking 27th overall out of 35 brands in 2006). This year ony 8 other brands improved more than BMW.

But the problem for BMW (with 133 problems per 100 cars in first 90 days) is that Porsche (91), Lexus (94), and Mercedes Benz (111) rank in the top 5. And Mercedes Benz was the second most-improved brand this year (behind Land Rover - which still ranks last among all brands). Among BMW competitors, only Audi (136) ranks worse than BMW ... by only a few problems.

Even worse, the E-Class was rated #1 in the midsize premium car segment ... followed by the Lexus GS, Infiniti M, and Volvo S80. The E60 ranking was not shown.

BMW did not rank any model in the top 3 of its class. :thumbsdown:

The quality bar has been raised very high. Time for BMW to get serious and catch up.

(press release attached)